Many of you will have seen the movie “I Don’t Know How She Does It”. And if you are anything like me, many of the situations that Sarah-Jessica Parker’s character, Kate, found herself in, will have rung true.
Although men can be just as guilty of over committing, women seem to have a strangle-hold on feeling like they have to ‘do it all’. Like so many working mothers, Kate makes lists to try and keep track of her busy life, including fundamentals such as ‘keeping her head above water at work’ and ‘making her marriage work’.
But as Kate discovers, trying to ‘do it all’ means that someone or something always loses out, and in the long run, your business won’t achieve the success you desire. To advance your business, you must focus on strategy not tasks. And this means you have to bite the bullet and outsource as many areas as possible.
Most of us are not accountants, or even particularly good at bookkeeping. But so many business owners hold on to this task, despite the fact that it takes you three times as long as a professional (and you probably do a mediocre job of it). Outsource it!
Find a good IT consultant who can set up your systems in the most effective manner to suit your business. Someone who you can call on to troubleshoot issues, rather than you spending 5 hours trying to retrieve that document you deleted by mistake.
Doing this will save you time, allow you and your team to focus on core areas, and add to the quality of your business by bringing in expertise in a cost effective manner.
Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender
